


Paper Hearts

by mazeiyyyyyn



Category: TOMORROW X TOGETHER | TXT (Korea Band)
Genre: Angst, Best Friends, Light Angst, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-16
Updated: 2020-11-16
Packaged: 2021-03-10 00:49:32
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,450
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27585019
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mazeiyyyyyn/pseuds/mazeiyyyyyn
Summary: How Taehyun hope that his heart was just made out of papers. It might be weak but at least, it won't shatter, it won't break.
Relationships: Choi Soobin/Choi Yeonjun, Choi Yeonjun/Kang Taehyun
Comments: 2
Kudos: 29





	Paper Hearts

Kang Taehyun took a sip on his newly brewed coffee as he watch Yeonjun, his best friend and the only man he ever loved, walk through the door of the coffee shop where he was currently at.

Yeonjun gave him a small wave and briskly walked towards the table Taehyun reserved, well, supposedly only for the both of them. As Yeonjun sat down, Taehyun admired the beauty the lad holds as he watch the sunlight kiss Yeonjun's delicate skin.

"Taehyunnie! It's been quite a long time since I last saw you. How have you been? Are you okay?"

Well Taehyun, now a twenty-two years old man, left the country and everything behind when he was eighteen to live in Switzerland. When I say everything, I meant every single thing, including Yeonjun.

Taehyun honestly didn't want to leave, especially with the thought running around his head that he will need leave his Yeonjun hyung. He don't want to leave him that time but he needed to, he has no choice.

And there's some events too that became a fuel to the fire, making it burn recklessly, forcing him to just leave.

Four years after, he is finally back. If he says that his love for Yeonjun is gone or he doesn't feel anything for the elder now after all those years, that would be a lie.

Four years passed yet he still feels the butterfly flying in his stomach whenever he thinks of Yeonjun. Four years passed yet it's still all the same for him in terms of his best friend.

He still love him. He never stopped loving Yeonjun. That's a one big fact.

"I'm doing fine, hyung. I'm currently taking a break from the stress so I decided to come home."

To come back to you...

"Law school must be so stressing and nerve-wracking."

Truth be told, law school is not stressing nor nerve-wracking. It's just... Let's say, something that can kill you and bury you alive? Then after you're buried, an unknown devil would dig you up from your grave and kill you once again.

An unending cycle, that's what law school is for Taehyun.

But Taehyun wouldn't say that. Instead, he silently chuckled as he reach for the Espresso he ordered earlier, before Yeonjun came inside the coffee shop to see him. Taehyun can't actually believe that Yeonjun came to personally see him. Knowing Yeonjun's busy schedule, seeing someone who left four years ago would be nearly impossible.

"Law school is stressing but I can handle it, hyung. You know me, I can manage everything. I am that great."

Taehyun ended his sentence with a wink, obviously given to Yeonjun causing the both of them to laugh their lungs out.

It's been a while since they've been like this. Just laughing and having fun. No words were said but it's obvious for the both lads that they have missed each other. They've been friends for more than ten years after all.

"So, do you have someone now?"

Taehyun's smile dropped as he quickly reached for the Espresso once again. He was tensed and it would be a farce if I say that Taehyun wasn't caught off guard because he was.

Taehyun was caught off guard and he felt like a cat got his tongue because he can't even dare himself to utter a word. It's better for him to stay quiet than to spill something that can get him and Yeonjun to an awkward situation.

"Pardon me, hyung?"

"Do you have someone now? Are you dating someone? Or at least, seeing someone?"

"Uh... That..."

Taehyun feels like he is in a hot sit right now. What is he gonna say? Was he supposed to say that he doesn't have anyone right now because he is still in love with Yeonjun. He was willing to say that but it would be either sweet or creepy for Yeonjun.

Taehyun tried to avoid Yeonjun's eyes causing him to look down. As he look down, he was met by something in his bag. He almost forgot about this. It was a box and no, it's not just a normal box of chocolates or a box of your ordinary oreos.

It was a velvet box with a gold necklace inside. It's a customize necklace, made especially for Yeonjun.

Yeonjun always loved styling, from clothes to jewelries so Taehyun bought it for him. It was expensive, honestly said, but for Taehyun, it's worth it. It's worth it because it's for Yeonjun.

"I am—"

"Wait Taehyun, pause. I didn't order a drink yet. I'll go grab one first. I'll be back."

Taehyun's words were cut off as he watch Yeonjun drift from his seat. Taehyun's deep sighs can be heard even of you're miles away from him. It was too heavy, too audible.

He was frustrated. He already had the chance to tell his true feelings for his Yeonjun hyung and he was more than willing to take it but destiny really loves playing it's games. Destiny loves playing with Taehyun. Fuck destiny.

Taehyun let out a last loud sigh as he divert his gaze down to the velvet box again. It has tiny paper hearts lining in every edge as a detail to the box.

Taehyun touched one paper heart while letting the memories of his past come rushing in. He stared at the paper heart, mind clouded as he let the memories of him and Yeonjun take over his mind once again...

"𝘛𝘢𝘦𝘩𝘺𝘶𝘯-𝘢𝘩! 𝘏𝘦𝘭𝘱 𝘮𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴! 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯'𝘵 𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘵, 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘥!"

𝘛𝘦𝘦𝘯𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘛𝘢𝘦𝘩𝘺𝘶𝘯 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘧 𝘢𝘴 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘵𝘤𝘩 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘠𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘫𝘶𝘯 𝘩𝘺𝘶𝘯𝘨 𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘢 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘦𝘲𝘶𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘥. 𝘞𝘦𝘭𝘭, 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘩𝘪𝘮.

"𝘏𝘺𝘶𝘯𝘨, 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥'𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘩. 𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘥."

𝘠𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘫𝘶𝘯 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘶𝘱, 𝘮𝘦𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘛𝘢𝘦𝘩𝘺𝘶𝘯'𝘴 𝘨𝘢𝘻𝘦, 𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘥𝘶𝘭𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘷𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘥 𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘦. 𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘴, '𝘐𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴? 𝘐𝘴 𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘶𝘤𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴?'

"𝘐𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘰 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥, 𝘸𝘩𝘺 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘸𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘦 𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯?"

𝘛𝘢𝘦𝘩𝘺𝘶𝘯 𝘳𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴 𝘶𝘱𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘠𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘫𝘶𝘯'𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘴. 𝘏𝘦 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘴 𝘠𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘫𝘶𝘯 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭. 𝘏𝘦 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘴 𝘠𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘫𝘶𝘯'𝘴 𝘴𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘴. 𝘓𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘐 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥, 𝘛𝘢𝘦𝘩𝘺𝘶𝘯 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘴 𝘠𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘫𝘶𝘯 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭.

𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦, 𝘊𝘩𝘰𝘪 𝘠𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘫𝘶𝘯, 𝘪𝘴 𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘴𝘰 𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘣𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘸𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘥𝘥𝘢𝘮𝘯 𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺'𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘢 𝘭𝘰𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘛𝘢𝘦𝘩𝘺𝘶𝘯 𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘻𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺.

𝘛𝘢𝘦𝘩𝘺𝘶𝘯 𝘤𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘶𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘣𝘢𝘨. 𝘠𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘫𝘶𝘯'𝘴 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘴 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘵𝘤𝘩 𝘛𝘢𝘦𝘩𝘺𝘶𝘯 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘶𝘱 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘦. 𝘗𝘰𝘰𝘳 𝘠𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘫𝘶𝘯, 𝘯𝘰 𝘰𝘯𝘦'𝘴 𝘨𝘰𝘯𝘯𝘢 𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘸𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘵, 𝘰𝘩 𝘴𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘵 𝘱𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵.

"𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨? 𝘏𝘦𝘺! 𝘐'𝘮 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘺𝘰𝘶. 𝘛𝘢𝘦𝘩𝘺𝘶𝘯-𝘢𝘩! 𝘒𝘢𝘯𝘨 𝘛𝘢𝘦𝘩𝘺𝘶𝘯!"

𝘛𝘢𝘦𝘩𝘺𝘶𝘯 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘭𝘢𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘺𝘶𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘳, 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘠𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘫𝘶𝘯 𝘤𝘢𝘯'𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨. 

𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘮𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘢𝘴𝘬 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘭𝘢𝘥 𝘪𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘋𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘺, 𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘳 𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘮.

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"𝘕𝘦𝘸 𝘴𝘦𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘱𝘢𝘱𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘴?"

𝘛𝘢𝘦𝘩𝘺𝘶𝘯 𝘢𝘴𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘸 𝘠𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘫𝘶𝘯 𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘳. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘩 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘠𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘫𝘶𝘯'𝘴 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘵 𝘢𝘥𝘮𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘰𝘹 𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘱𝘢𝘱𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘰𝘦𝘮𝘴. 

𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺 𝘢 𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘨𝘰 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘳 𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘮. 𝘠𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘫𝘶𝘯 𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘨𝘪𝘧𝘵𝘴 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘯𝘦𝘸, 𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘊𝘩𝘰𝘪 𝘠𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘫𝘶𝘯 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘭𝘭. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘠𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘫𝘶𝘯'𝘴 𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘵 𝘢𝘥𝘮𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘣𝘰𝘹 𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘱𝘢𝘱𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘰𝘦𝘮𝘴. 𝘕𝘰 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘨𝘪𝘧𝘵𝘴 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘸𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘥.

𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘤𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘥𝘮𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴, 𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘠𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘫𝘶𝘯 𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘶𝘦𝘥.

"𝘏𝘶𝘩?"

"𝘋𝘪𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘵 𝘢𝘥𝘮𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘳 𝘨𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘰𝘹 𝘰𝘧 𝘤𝘳𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘺 𝘱𝘢𝘱𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘴?"

"𝘏𝘦, 𝘸𝘢𝘪𝘵, 𝘮𝘢𝘺𝘣𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘨𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘱𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘯'𝘵 𝘤𝘳𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘺, 𝘛𝘺𝘶𝘯. 𝘠𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘣𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘢𝘥𝘮𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘳𝘴." 

𝘠𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘫𝘶𝘯 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘵𝘰 𝘪𝘵 𝘢𝘴 𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘹 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥. 𝘏𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘮𝘴 𝘧𝘢𝘴𝘤𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘹, 𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘢𝘺𝘣𝘦, 𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘢𝘴𝘤𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘨𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘹.

"𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵, 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘥𝘮𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘱𝘺. 𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘸𝘰 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘹𝘦𝘴. 𝘐 𝘢𝘭𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯."

𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘭𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘹 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘮𝘦𝘵 𝘣𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘳𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘱𝘢𝘱𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘴, 𝘢𝘴 𝘶𝘴𝘶𝘢𝘭. 𝘏𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴, 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘱𝘢𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦? 𝘐𝘵 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘮𝘴 𝘶𝘯𝘭𝘪𝘮𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘥!

"𝘈𝘭𝘴𝘰, 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘥𝘮𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘦. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦'𝘴 𝘢 𝘣𝘪𝘨𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘱𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘧𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘦."

𝘛𝘢𝘦𝘩𝘺𝘶𝘯 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘳𝘶𝘨𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘺𝘶𝘯𝘨'𝘴 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘵. 𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘢 𝘣𝘰𝘺. 𝘠𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘫𝘶𝘯'𝘴 𝘢𝘥𝘮𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘣𝘰𝘺. 𝘋𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘢𝘴𝘬 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘛𝘢𝘦𝘩𝘺𝘶𝘯 𝘬𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘠𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘫𝘶𝘯'𝘴 𝘢𝘥𝘮𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘩𝘦 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘥𝘰.

"𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘯 𝘯𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵—"

"𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘩𝘺𝘶𝘯𝘨?"

"𝘙𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰𝘥𝘢𝘺'𝘴 𝘱𝘰𝘦𝘮, 𝘰𝘣𝘷𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘭𝘺. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘛𝘢𝘦𝘩𝘺𝘶𝘯, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘵𝘺𝘭𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘸𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘢𝘳. 𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦..."

𝘛𝘢𝘦𝘩𝘺𝘶𝘯 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘳, 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘻𝘦𝘯, 𝘢𝘴 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘵𝘤𝘩 𝘠𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘫𝘶𝘯 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘴𝘶𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴. 

𝘏𝘦 𝘬𝘦𝘱𝘵 𝘴𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘵, 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘥𝘳𝘺𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘴 𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘶𝘭𝘱, 𝘢𝘴 𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘩𝘪𝘮𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘢𝘹𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦.

"𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘵𝘺𝘭𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘮𝘦, 𝘸𝘦𝘪𝘳𝘥𝘭𝘺 𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘸𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘵𝘺𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩..."

𝘛𝘢𝘦𝘩𝘺𝘶𝘯 𝘧𝘦𝘭𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘳 𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘮 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘪𝘮. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘛𝘢𝘦𝘩𝘺𝘶𝘯 𝘧𝘦𝘭𝘵 𝘸𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘠𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘫𝘶𝘯 𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘛𝘢𝘦𝘩𝘺𝘶𝘯'𝘴, 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴 𝘴𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘢 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘭 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘺 𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦.

"𝘜𝘩... 𝘏𝘺𝘶𝘯𝘨?"

𝘛𝘢𝘦𝘩𝘺𝘶𝘯 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘳𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘩𝘪𝘮𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘮𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯'𝘵 𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦. 𝘏𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯'𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘺 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘮.

𝘐𝘴 𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘯𝘯𝘢 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘧𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘸? 𝘐𝘴 𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘯𝘯𝘢 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘠𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘫𝘶𝘯 𝘩𝘺𝘶𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘵𝘩? 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘦'𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘸. 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘦𝘮𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘠𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘫𝘶𝘯? 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘱𝘶𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘹𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘱𝘢𝘱𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘠𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘫𝘶𝘯'𝘴 𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘳 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘭𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘸𝘰 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴?

𝘏𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯. 𝘏𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯'𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘺𝘦𝘵. 𝘏𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯'𝘵 𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘬 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘺𝘦𝘵. 𝘏𝘦 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘤𝘢𝘯'𝘵.

"... 𝘞𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘺𝘰𝘶. 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘸𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘵𝘺𝘭𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦. 𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶, 𝘢𝘮 𝘐 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵? 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘯'𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘮𝘦, 𝘐'𝘮 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘩𝘺𝘶𝘯𝘨!"

𝘛𝘢𝘦𝘩𝘺𝘶𝘯 𝘦𝘹𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘴 𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘨𝘰 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘨𝘳𝘪𝘱. 𝘏𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘻𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘦𝘥 𝘢 𝘧𝘪𝘴𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘠𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘫𝘶𝘯 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘳.

𝘏𝘦 𝘴𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘵 𝘠𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘫𝘶𝘯, 𝘣𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘢𝘴 𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘢 𝘧𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘶𝘤𝘬𝘭𝘦 𝘦𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘱𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘱𝘴. 

𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘴𝘩. 𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘴𝘩 𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘺𝘶𝘯𝘨. 𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘴𝘩 𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘧𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘠𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘫𝘶𝘯. 𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘴𝘩 𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘢𝘺.

𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘩𝘪𝘴 '𝘸𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘴'. 𝘏𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺 𝘧𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘩𝘪𝘮. 𝘏𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺 𝘧𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥'𝘷𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘺𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘴 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥. 𝘏𝘦 𝘧𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘠𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘫𝘶𝘯, 𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘥𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘶𝘱.

"𝘠𝘦𝘢𝘩, 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦. 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯'𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶. 𝘠𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘩𝘺𝘶𝘯𝘨, 𝘮𝘺 𝘣𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥."

.  
.  
.

"𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶, 𝘪𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘪𝘵?"

𝘛𝘢𝘦𝘩𝘺𝘶𝘯 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘭𝘺 𝘩𝘪𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘹 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘣𝘦𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘥. 𝘐𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘚𝘰𝘰𝘣𝘪𝘯, 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘴𝘶𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥𝘭𝘺.

"𝘔𝘦? 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯 '𝘮𝘦' ?"

𝘚𝘰𝘰𝘣𝘪𝘯 𝘴𝘮𝘪𝘳𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘢𝘴 𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘢 𝘴𝘮𝘶𝘨 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯. 𝘚𝘰𝘰𝘣𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘶𝘮𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘶𝘥𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘛𝘢𝘦𝘩𝘺𝘶𝘯 𝘸𝘢𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘪𝘵. 

"𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯, 𝘛𝘢𝘦𝘩𝘺𝘶𝘯."

𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘥 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘚𝘰𝘰𝘣𝘪𝘯 𝘪𝘴 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘪𝘮. 𝘏𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸, 𝘮𝘢𝘺𝘣𝘦 𝘚𝘰𝘰𝘣𝘪𝘯 𝘪𝘴 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥. 𝘔𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘢𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘺 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘢 𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘵 𝘵𝘰𝘰. 𝘈 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘧𝘶𝘭, 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘪𝘵? 

"𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯, 𝘊𝘩𝘰𝘪 𝘚𝘰𝘰𝘣𝘪𝘯."

"𝘚𝘶𝘳𝘦."

𝘚𝘰𝘰𝘣𝘪𝘯 𝘴𝘩𝘳𝘶𝘨𝘴 𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘢𝘱𝘴 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘦𝘳. 𝘚𝘰𝘰𝘣𝘪𝘯 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘬 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘛𝘢𝘦𝘩𝘺𝘶𝘯, 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥.

"𝘐 𝘴𝘶𝘨𝘨𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘪𝘮 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘪𝘮, 𝘛𝘢𝘦𝘩𝘺𝘶𝘯. 𝘊𝘭𝘢𝘪𝘮 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘩𝘦'𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘮𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘵 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵."

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𝘛𝘢𝘦𝘩𝘺𝘶𝘯 𝘵𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘢 𝘥𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘠𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘫𝘶𝘯'𝘴 𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘦. 𝘏𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘰 𝘪𝘵, 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘬 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘧𝘦𝘴𝘴. 

𝘏𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘧𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦. 𝘉𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘴...

"𝘏𝘺𝘶𝘯𝘨."

𝘠𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘫𝘶𝘯 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘶𝘱 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘦𝘦𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘮. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘨𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘢 𝘴𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘢𝘴 𝘛𝘢𝘦𝘩𝘺𝘶𝘯 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘮𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘪𝘳 𝘢𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘴 𝘠𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘫𝘶𝘯.

𝘛𝘢𝘦𝘩𝘺𝘶𝘯 𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘥. 𝘏𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘪𝘵 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘩𝘦'𝘴 𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦. 𝘏𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘦𝘳, 𝘴𝘰 𝘢𝘴 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯'𝘵 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯. 𝘏𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯'𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦.

𝘏𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯'𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯. 𝘏𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘪𝘧 𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘨𝘰 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬. 𝘏𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘪𝘧 𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘠𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘫𝘶𝘯 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘭𝘺 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘴.

"𝘠𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘯𝘯𝘢 𝘴𝘢𝘺 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘛𝘺𝘶𝘯? 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘮𝘦 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦'𝘴 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘢𝘺."

𝘛𝘢𝘦𝘩𝘺𝘶𝘯 𝘯𝘰𝘥𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘴 𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘸 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘪𝘳. 𝘏𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘶𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘪𝘮: 𝘏𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘠𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘫𝘶𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘩𝘪𝘮.

"𝘐... 𝘏𝘺𝘶𝘯𝘨... 𝘐 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦—"

"𝘠𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘫𝘶𝘯, 𝘛𝘢𝘦𝘩𝘺𝘶𝘯'𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺?"

𝘛𝘢𝘦𝘩𝘺𝘶𝘯 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘪𝘥-𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘢 𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘢𝘳 𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘱𝘰𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘠𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘫𝘶𝘯'𝘴 𝘬𝘪𝘵𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘯. 𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘚𝘰𝘰𝘣𝘪𝘯...

"𝘠𝘦𝘢𝘩. 𝘈𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨?"

"𝘐'𝘮 𝘥𝘰𝘯𝘦. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘸."

𝘛𝘢𝘦𝘩𝘺𝘶𝘯 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘭𝘶𝘥𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘦𝘵 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘩𝘦 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘸 𝘚𝘰𝘰𝘣𝘪𝘯 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘬𝘪𝘴𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘠𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘫𝘶𝘯'𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥. 𝘉𝘰𝘵𝘩 𝘭𝘢𝘥𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘛𝘢𝘦𝘩𝘺𝘶𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘱𝘪𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥. 𝘏𝘦 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘪𝘵 𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘺, 𝘢𝘴 𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘭𝘶𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘬𝘦.

𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘯𝘰𝘸...

"𝘉𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘺, 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘺 𝘣𝘰𝘺𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥, 𝘚𝘰𝘰𝘣𝘪𝘯. 𝘓𝘰𝘷𝘦, 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘺 𝘣𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥, 𝘛𝘢𝘦𝘩𝘺𝘶𝘯."

𝘛𝘢𝘦𝘩𝘺𝘶𝘯 𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘭𝘢𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥 '𝘣𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥' 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘠𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘫𝘶𝘯'𝘴 𝘮𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘩, 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘪𝘮.

𝘙𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵, 𝘛𝘢𝘦𝘩𝘺𝘶𝘯 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥. 𝘏𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥. 𝘖𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥.

𝘏𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘠𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘫𝘶𝘯 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘮𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘢 𝘣𝘰𝘺𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥. 𝘏𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘺 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘸? 𝘏𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘺 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘮? 𝘛𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘳𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨?

𝘔𝘢𝘺𝘣𝘦 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯'𝘵 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘱𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥. 𝘏𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯'𝘵 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘱𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯'𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘠𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘫𝘶𝘯'𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥. 𝘏𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯'𝘵 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘱𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘪𝘵.

𝘕𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦. 𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘧 𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘱𝘢𝘱𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘢𝘱𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘴. 𝘕𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘧 𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘰𝘳 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘱𝘰𝘦𝘮𝘴.

𝘕𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦. 𝘏𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘒𝘢𝘯𝘨 𝘛𝘢𝘦𝘩𝘺𝘶𝘯, 𝘊𝘩𝘰𝘪 𝘠𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘫𝘶𝘯'𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥.

"𝘔𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯, 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘢𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯, 𝘛𝘢𝘦𝘩𝘺𝘶𝘯?"

𝘛𝘢𝘦𝘩𝘺𝘶𝘯 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘥 𝘠𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘫𝘶𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘚𝘰𝘰𝘣𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘪𝘥 𝘴𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘦. 𝘏𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘧 𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘸. 𝘏𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘥. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘨𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘶𝘱 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘨𝘦.

𝘛𝘢𝘦𝘩𝘺𝘶𝘯 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥'𝘷𝘦 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴.

"𝘕𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘩𝘺𝘶𝘯𝘨. 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘢𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘴 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘢𝘴 𝘐 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘺, 𝘐 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘦. 𝘔𝘰𝘮 𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘴𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘰 𝘩𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘰𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵."

𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘢𝘳. 𝘕𝘰 𝘰𝘯𝘦'𝘴 𝘢𝘴𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘰 𝘩𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘺. 𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘥𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘪𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯, 𝘛𝘢𝘦𝘩𝘺𝘶𝘯? 𝘈𝘳𝘦𝘯'𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘭𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨?

"𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦—"

"𝘐'𝘭𝘭 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘎𝘰𝘰𝘥𝘣𝘺𝘦 𝘠𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘫𝘶𝘯 𝘩𝘺𝘶𝘯𝘨, 𝘚𝘰𝘰𝘣𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘺𝘶𝘯𝘨."

𝘛𝘢𝘦𝘩𝘺𝘶𝘯 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘠𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘫𝘶𝘯 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘩 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘰𝘳 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘭𝘺. 𝘖𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘰𝘶𝘵, 𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘩 𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘥𝘦𝘧𝘦𝘢𝘵.

𝘏𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘳𝘺 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘮. 𝘏𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯'𝘵 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘦 𝘢 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘢𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵. 𝘋𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘮? 𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥 𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴?

𝘍𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦, 𝘛𝘢𝘦𝘩𝘺𝘶𝘯 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘺. 𝘏𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘺, 𝘩𝘰𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴, 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘺 𝘴𝘦𝘵𝘴 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘠𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘫𝘶𝘯. 

𝘍𝘶𝘤𝘬 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘺. 𝘍𝘶𝘤𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴. 𝘍𝘶𝘤𝘬 𝘛𝘢𝘦𝘩𝘺𝘶𝘯'𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦. 𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘧𝘶𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘶𝘱.

𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘺 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘳? '𝘎𝘰𝘰𝘥𝘣𝘺𝘦 𝘠𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘫𝘶𝘯 𝘩𝘺𝘶𝘯𝘨?' 𝘉𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘵. 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥𝘣𝘺𝘦𝘴? 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥𝘣𝘺𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘭𝘺 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨?

𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥𝘣𝘺𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘮𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘴𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦? 

"Taehyun? Taehyun-ah! Earth to Kang Taehyun!" 

Taehyun snapped out of his trip to memory lane when Yeonjun called out for him. Did he space out? He did, didn't he?

Who wouldn't space out when you just remembered the most beautiful yet the most painful memory of your being. 

And for Taehyun, Yeonjun is the most beautiful yet most painful memory he ever had.

"You're spacing out, Tyun."

"I'm fine, hyung. Just thinking of something."

Just thinking of you...

"So, where were we earlier? Ah! You're love life?"

Yeonjun was wiggling his eyebrows and was laughing while Taehyun, Taehyun feels like shit. He feels like his heart sank once again.

How dare destiny play with him once again? How dare the world make all the people around Taehyun happy but not him? All of them being contented except him? How dare the world do him dirty like this.

"I'm... I'm single as of now, hyung. I don't want to see anyone yet."

I don't want to see other people yet because the only person I could see after all those years is you.

Yeonjun nodded as he take another sip on his drink. The silence was starting to take over them, it's deafening. Taehyun's gaze move down once again to the velvet box he was holding.

Destiny played him more than he can count already. He stayed away from Yeonjun, hoping that his feelings would fade. Hoping that it would be gone. But the leaves fell and bloomed back again for the hundredth time yet Taehyun's feelings for Yeonjun never changed and honestly, he hates it.

He hates how he still love him. He hates how he still look for him. He hates how easy Yeonjun can manipulate his whole being. He hates that even though how hard he tries to forget him, he just can't. He can't do it.

"Yeonjun hyung... Do you remember your secret admirer from highschool?"

Yeonjun looked at him with a confused expression. Oh, he doesn't remember. Great. Just great.

"Which one?"

He bit the insides of his mouth first before letting go, taking in a really deep breath and breathing out heavily as he look straight into Yeonjun's eyes. 

"Paper hearts."

Taehyun's heart starts to beat faster again as he let Yeonjun remember every stupidity he did in highschool. If he wasn't able to confess years before or earlier this day, he would do it now. It's now or never for Taehyun. 

No one could probably stop him not unless destiny fucks him up again.

"Oh... Oh! What about that person?"

"What if... That person personally confessed to you. Will you give them a chance like you said? Was there a chance, Yeonjun hyung?"

Yeonjun stopped first and thought for a while. Taehyun was refraining himself to hope but he can't help it. He was hoping that Yeonjun would say yes. He was hoping that Yeonjun would give him a chance.

"Honestly, I would give that person a chance..."

Taehyun smiled and silently thanked the heavens when his Yeonjun hyung said those words. There's a chance. There's a chance for Taehyun and if Yeonjun gives it, he would grab it without hesitation.

"But, that was before. I would probably gave that person a chance if I don't have Soobin. It's different now and he stopped giving me those boxes when..."

Yeonjun stopped and looked at him, eyes wide with shock and curiosity like he just thought of something he didn't realized before.

"When you left... But that's imposible."

Taehyun just laughed at Yeonjun bitterly. It's just funny how Taehyun loves to laugh at Yeonjun but it's bitter every single time.

Taehyun brought the velvet box up. The familiar paper heart details flashing, standing out among the box. 

Yeonjun looked at him in disbelief. Taehyun wants to disappear at this moment but he can't. He might not have another chance to do this, just like before.

"Taehyun..."

"I want you to listen to me first, hyung."

Yeonjun just looked at him, not moving, giving the sign for Taehyun to continue explaining.

"I did it at first just to make you happy, make you feel loved. I never intended to make things complicated. I never intended for shits to happen but I want to tell you, I truly loved you, hyung..."

Taehyun stopped and opened the velvet box in front of Yeonjun, revealing the gold necklace to him.

"I still love you."

There was a long silence between the two lads. No one dared to talk. Yeonjun was shaken and Taehyun was now getting embarrassed of what he did. He doesn't know if he did the right thing. 

Taehyun is scared of the outcome. 

"Taehyun..." 

Yeonjun sighed as he look at Taehyun, confused if he should be surprised or mad. Surprised because the admirer he have been long looking for was his best friend all along and mad because Taehyun didn't told him about his feelings before everything happened. 

Before Soobin asked him to be his boyfriend. Before he fell for Soobin. Before Taehyun lost all his chances. Before Taehyun left him. 

But, if Taehyun became honest, if Taehyun really confessed years ago... Was there a chance that Yeonjun might fall for him? Still none. It's cruel, really cruel for Taehyun but Yeonjun just sees him as a brother. Nothing more and nothing less than a brother. 

"You're my brother, Taehyun. We've been friends since we were middle schoolers. I can't even believe that you fell for me, I didn't expect it."

Yeonjun just silently massaged his temples while staring at the necklace, not knowing what to say. He can't accept it. Yeonjun can't accept the gift Taehyun prepared for him. 

Accepting the gift would be giving his best friend false hope. He might be cruel for turning Taehyun down but it's more cruel if he gives Taehyun a chance. He can't give Taehyun a chance knowing there's none at all. 

"But, hyung... We can try—" 

"No. Taehyun, no."

Yeonjun sighed, thinking of the right words to say to his best friend. He don't want to hurt him too much but that can't be helped. He needs to be honest with him. There's no chance at all. 

"Taehyun, I can't force myself to love you. I can't—" 

"It's because you can't love me more... You can't love me the way you love Soobin hyung. It's because you only see me as your best friend, that's the reason, that's it, am I right?" 

Silence. Silence was winning in between them again. Taehyun just mentally laughed at himself. He knew the reason but he still forced it. How stupid of him. Taehyun is a smart man but he can be stupid just for love. 

Funny what love can do to all of us. How love can control our mind, body and soul. How love can manipulate us. 

"I understand, hyung. I'm sorry for forcing it."

Taehyun nodded at Yeonjun as he try to stand up, as he try to leave once again. Taehyun is strong. He is strong but he becomes too weak when it's Choi Yeonjun who's at stake.

He can feel his chest tightening, his eyelids wanting to drop as pool of tears starts to form in his eyes. Is he gonna cry? Why now? 

"I'm sorry, Taehyun."

Taehyun just silently nod. He can feel his hyung's sincerity but Taehyun can't seem to digest it. He can't digest the pain. Yeonjun is sorry...

It's all clear. He is just a brother to Yeonjun. Taehyun should just accept it. He doesn't have any choice than to accept the truth.

The truth that he can't have Yeonjun the way he wanted. The truth that Yeonjun can't love Taehyun the same way he love him. The truth that he is just nothing but a brother to Yeonjun. 

"It's alright, hyung. It's fine. I'm fine."

Is he really? Obviously not. As Taehyun shifts from his seat, he looks at Yeonjun and smiles at him. It's not a bitter smile nor a smile of happiness. It's a smile of defeat and acceptance. 

He accepts his defeat already. Four years is enough for him to hold it in. Four years is enough for him to hope for something that will never happen. 

Four years is enough for him to love Yeonjun in pain. 

"I'm leaving, hyung."

Taehyun was about to walk away when Yeonjun grabbed his arms, stopping him. Yeonjun reached for his hand and placed the velvet box on top of it. 

"Take this with you, Taehyun. I can't accept—" 

"I can't take that back, hyung. That's for you. It'll just bring me back the..." 

Memories. The memory of those paper hearts Taehyun carefully made for Yeonjun. The memory of those poems Taehyun wrote out of his love. The memory of those moments where he secretly hides the boxes of paper hearts in Yeonjun's locker. 

The memory of him and Yeonjun. The memory of Yeonjun himself that he wants to forget. 

"Goodbye, hyung."

Here's Taehyun and his 'goodbyes' once again. His goodbyes that brought him nothing but pain. 

Taehyun just bitterly laughs as he stare at his hands, a small paper heart is stuck in his index finger. Paper hearts... 

He offered Yeonjun paper hearts, carefully made paper hearts. He offered him everything. He even offered him his heart. But in the end, Taehyun's heart was the one who's broken. Taehyun's heart was shattered into pieces and Yeonjun didn't even do anything to it. 

But Yeonjun can't be blame. He can't blame Yeonjun when Taehyun is the only one at fault. He caused this. Taehyun is the one to blame.

It's Taehyun's fault. Taehyun is the one and only person to be blamed for this heartbreak, his own heartbreak. He was the one who willingly gave his heart to Yeonjun. He was the one who broke his own heart. 

How Taehyun hope that his heart was just made out of papers. It might be weak but at least, it won't shatter, it won't break. 

How Taehyun wish it was all simple, as simple as making paper hearts. If it were just as simple as that... 

Every single thing shouldn't have been this painful. 

He wouldn't have to be in pain.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! Feel free to leave a feedback, I will gladly read it.


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